Shortage of water won't dilute attraction of famed Longjing tea

By Zhong Nan in Beijing and Yan Yiqi in Hangzhou (China Daily) Updated: 2014-03-28 08:45

A farmer picks tea leaves at a Longjing tea plantation near the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on March 18.The picking time for Longjing tea in Hangzhou is usually from the middle of March to early April. Li Zhong / For China Daily

The price of Longjing tea, a national beverage of China, will not rise significantly despite a drought last summer because of measures taken by local farmers and the cut in government spending on unnecessary items, said industry insiders.

Longjing tea, also known as Dragon Well tea, from the West Lake area in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, is a famous variety of green tea and has been a favorite drink for generations of Chinese.

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Last year, the price of high-quality Longjing tea, the leaves of which are picked before early April, rose 15 percent year-on-year to 9,300 yuan ($1,500) a kilogram, making it the sixth consecutive year its price had risen, according to the Hangzhou municipal office of agriculture and rural work.

"The lingering heat and drought last summer were quite extraordinary and difficult for tea farmers," said Shang Jiannong, president of Hangzhou Xihu District Longjing Tea Industry Association, which represents more than 70 local Longjing tea merchants, tea farmers and trade companies around the West Lake area.

"The tea trees killed by the summer heat were planted in the past three years and only accounted for 5 percent of the entire tea plantation in the West Lake area," Shang said.

"The fortunate thing is that older Longjing tea trees in the West Lake area weren't severely harmed by the damaging weather and some of them are ready to be picked now."

To ensure successful production, the local government helped tea farmers conduct irrigation and drew water from underground to save their plants in July.

Shang predicted the scope for a price rise for this year's Longjing tea will be set between 5 percent and 10 percent on 2013, mainly driven by the rising costs of tea pickers, processing work and maintenance of tea trees.